SC vows to handle Rs 3,000 cr cyber fraud with an 'iron-hand'

The Supreme Court was, on Monday, told that almost 3,000 crore have been extorted from individuals in cyber frauds, particularly digital arrest scandals. Expressing shock at the mammoth figure, a division bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said that the situation needs to be dealt with "iron hands". "It's shocking that almost 3,000 crore has been collected from the victims. And this is just in our country. If we don't pass harsh and stringent orders, the problem will magnify. We will deal with this with iron hands," the bench verbally remarked.

Appearing on behalf of the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the "most pathetic" aspect is that the victims are especially elderly people. Mehta apprised the bench that a special unit exists in the Ministry of Home Affairs that is probing such complaints and sought time to file a detailed report. The bench remarked that domain experts might be required to deal with the situation at hand. "This is a huge challenge. Something very shocking... We don't know what is happening in other countries. We don't know how the technical and financial pillars are functioning. We need to strengthen their capabilities. If we falter or ignore, and don't issue strict orders, the problem will worsen", the bench remarked.

Speaking for the bench, Justice Kant remarked that his office has prepared a brief report based on the sealed report received from the MHA and some useful suggestions have emerged. The SC posted the case for resumed hearing on November 10. The bench said that it would pass appropriate directions. At the last hearing, the SC had mooted a proposal for a "uniform" probe in all cases pertaining to digital arrests. The court had contemplated whether the CBI should probe all such cases. The development took place during the resumed hearing of a suo motu case initiated over digital arrest cases.

At one of the previous hearings, while sending notice to the Centre and the CBI, the SC had said that it was aghast that the fraudsters behind such scams often use forged court orders to trick people into parting with their money. The top court took judicial notice of the issue following a complaint sent to it last month by a senior citizen couple. They were defrauded of their life savings through a digital arrest fraud carried out during September 1-16.

The victims, in their letter addressed to the Chief Justice of India, rued that they were contacted by people impersonating as CBI, Intelligence Bureau and judicial authorities through video conferencing platforms and telephones.